I previously posted on a case where a North Carolina court ordered children out of homeschooling and back into public school at least in part to compensate for the mother’s religious views.
In a similar recent case, a girl was ordered out of homeschooling and into public school because of her “rigidity on faith”.
In an even more recent high profile case, a teenager fled her family in Ohio after converting to Christianity, for fear that her Muslim parents would execute a so-called honor killing on her. A Florida court ordered the teen returned to Ohio, but into foster care.
There are plenty of other cases lately where aspects of a parent’s religious beliefs or practices – or lack of same – appear to play a significant role in a parenting dispute’s outcome.
Unfortunately, the outcomes don’t always seem consistent – or logical – across the country.
Are family courts indirectly imposing their own religious values on minor children and their parents? And what of a parent’s constitutionally protected right of religious freedom?
These are the questions some are asking – and hoping the US Supreme Court will address in the near future.
Read more in this ChristianityToday article: Splitting Babies – Religious differences are making custody disputes even messier.